Audiovisual - Alternatives
Animals affected
Birds, Reptiles, Felines, Primates, Amphibians, Cetaceans, Elephants, Bears, Wolves, Giraffes, Seals, Zebras, Sea lionsRange
InternacionalAREA OF FAADA ACTIVITY
SpainDescription
In most cases the use of wild animals in commercials or movies is completely unnecessary. With a simple change in the script it is possible to achieve an equally powerful piece but free from animal exploitation. When the participation of a wild animal is still indispensable to the message being transmitted, nowadays there are different ethical alternatives to the use of real animals and they deliver great results.
Among others we can think of 3D/ CGI, VFX, SFX, Animatronics and images of free-living wildlife.
New technologies not only allow high quality work, but they also offer serious advantages to the people and productions which use them. For example, there are no safety risks on the set regarding possible attacks by animals. Also the reactions and way the animal acts are completely planned, animal interaction on a large scale is possible, placing each animal exactly where the director wants it, no special care is required on set, no legal paperwork is necessary for their transportation and cleaning bills are reduced.
“The origin of the Planet of the Apes” (2011), “Noah” (2014) or “The Legend of Tarzan” (2016) are only a few of the super-productions that have chosen to use new technology.
Among the most famous cinematographic productions using these technologies we can think of Jurassic Park (1993), Mighty Joe Young (1998), The origin of the Planet of the Apes(2011), Noah (2014) and the Twilight saga (2008-2012).
Among the commercials: Elephant and Kiwi for Matutano by the BBDO Barcelona agency (2009), Bear for Santalucía by the SCPF agency (2011), The Bear for Canal Plus by the Betc Paris agency (2011), More savings for families, for Scottex (2013), Ypsilon elefantino for Lancia by the Armando Testa agency (2013).
Even productions which used real animals have had to use alternatives for the filming of certain scenes which were just too complex or dangerous. A few examples of these are The Chronicles of Narnia (2005), The Last Samurai (2003), War Horse (2011), Gladiator and Life of Pi (2012).
Our action
At the state level
- Through our project ADnimalsfree we are raising awareness of the problem areas pertaining to the use of animals in the audiovisual sector.
- We organise speeches in specialist universities.
- We donate to national sanctuaries of animals rescued from the audiovisual industry.
- We carry out legal action in Spain.
- We offer advice to Spanish companies in the audiovisual sector.
Among the successful initiatives we highlight:
- Award for the “Best Online Campaign 2014” in the GOLIADS for the campaign “Wild Advertising Awards” made in collaboration with the agency CONTRAPUNTO BBDO.
- Collaboration with the Fundación Mundo Ciudad, which has stopped accepting pieces starring wild animals in their 8 festivals and since 2013 presents the “Adnimalsfree” awards in the Publifestival gala, the International Social Advertising Festival.
- The withdrawal of the images of a white tiger in the Nivea commercial “Incredible Experiences in the Shower”.
- Spanish trending topic with the hashtag #ApagónVayaFauna in 2015.
- Commitment from Unilever not to use wild animals in any more of its European audiovisual productions, 2016.
- Gold in the Premios Eficacia 2016 (Efficiency Awards) in the category of “Social Responsibility NGO” for the campaign #ElCastingMásBestia (the most beastly audition) made in collaboration with the agency CONTRAPUNTO BBDO and getting over a million and a half views on social media.
What can you do?
- Find out what is involved in the use of wild animals in audiovisual productions. Help us to publicise our projects and get the message to more people.
- If you need to contract an advertising agency or a professional from the sector, do so with one which has made the FAADA pledge to work responsibly.
- If you are a professional of the sector, ask us for advice about the existing digital alternatives and make the pledge.
